The Duchess Park Condors knew the Prince George Polars were not invincible.
The Condors planted that seed of doubt when they beat PGSS a few weeks ago for the first time all season in an exhibition game.
But this was different. Playing for the North Central zone junior A boys basketball championship at Shas Ti Kelly Road gymnasium, the Polars and their veteran lineup had plenty of swagger. PGSS earned its status as tournament favourites, hovering near the top 10 provincially most of the season and had beaten Duchess in six of their previous seven meetings, including the district final Feb. 5
But the Polars had no idea what the Condors’ hotshot tandem, Trae Barth and Anthony Lee, had in store for them in Friday’s zone finale. Barth set the tone early, hitting for five treys in the first half to launch Duchess Park to a 31-17 lead heading into the break. Following the lead of all-stars Gage Cooke and Ethan Gilbert, the Polars starting hitting their shots in the second half and by three-quarter time they had reduced the deficit to 37-31. The Polars crept ever closer in the fourth quarter and were down by just two points with two minutes left when Barth and Lee hit back-to-back threes to give Duchess Park a 56-48 lead.
“That was huge,” said Condors head coach Dave Adolph. “Anthony hit four threes in the fourth quarter and seven three in the whole game. He’s super-clutch.”
The teams traded foul shots and the Condors were never threatened the rest of the way, winning 63-54.
“It was a nine-point victory but it was way tighter than the nine points would suggest,” said Adolph. “To beat a great, provincially-ranked PGSS team the boys were pumped.”
“We totally keyed on their big guys because Kav (Varaich) is a problem for sure. He just hits threes and him and Gauge (Cooke) are super-fast in transition and that’s why we took our press off and tried to slow the game down.”
PGSS went on to defeat Nechako Valley in the back-door zone qualifier and will join the Condors as the North Central representatives in the 32-team provincial tournament, Feb. 26-March 1 in Langley. Each team is guaranteed five games. There’s no tiering at the junior A provincials, which means all teams are competing head-to-head, regardless of the how many Grade 8-10 students each school has to pick from to form its team.
Just to get to the zone final, the Condors needed a game-tying buzzer-beating three from Jake Bilbrough, his fourth three of the fourth quarter, to force overtime in the semifinal against the Nechako Valley Vikings, a game the Condors eventually won 52-51.
The Vikings had a chance to force a second OT period when Aiden Simrose got fouled while attempting a three just before time ran out. He hit two of his foul shots but couldn’t sink the third and the Condors advanced.
Simrose collected a game-high 23 points on the strength of five threes in that game and was picked for the all-star team, along with Lee and Matthew Hart of Duchess Park, and Cooke and Gilbert of PGSS, with Barth as the MVP.
The zone-champion Condors roster also includes players Liam Fraser, Patrick Strasdin, Josh Tambyn, Arjun Shergill, Conor Burbee, Carsen Cote, Angelo Salaza, Logan Warner, and Daniel Dron. Chris Foucher and BJ Barth are the assistant coaches.
Meanwhile, in the North Central junior A girls district championship at Duchess Park, the host Condors defeated the College Heights Cougars 38-32 in Saturday’s final. The Cougars shadowed guard Tehya Carpenter and limited the ever-dangerous guard to six points but were unable to contain guard Naina Manhas, who hit for 15 points.
“They have a very hardworking team and they battled us hard and it was close in the end,” said Condors coach Craig Douglass. “We very well could have a rematch next weekend.”
The Condors beat the Westside Warriors 40-23 in the semifinal round.
In the battle for third and fourth place, the Westside Warriors nailed a last-second shot for a one-point win over the Cedars Christian Eagles. Duchess Park, College Heights, Westside and Cedars all advance to the zone championship which starts Friday at Duchess Park.
The Sir Alexander Mackenzie Grizzlies of Hagensborg are the top seed in the five-team tournament. The Grizzlies topped Duchess Park in the final of the Condor Classic in December and are ranked No. 10 in the province, while the Condors carry an honourable mention ranking into the zone playoffs. Two provincial berths are up for grabs. The A-final will be played Friday at 5:30 p.m., while the B-final is set for Saturday at 2 p.m.
